Basques around the world

Good afternoon to our 2,245 members-

The sun continues to shine here and we’re promised a fabulous weekend of beach weather and small waves for those budding surfers!

Because of a few technical hiccups yesterday we couldn’t tell you that the video of the Athletic Bilbao squad playing against 200 school children ended up receiving 30,000 hits on the net and was voted by digg users to go on its homepage. It was also posted by an Aussie Man Utd fan onto the UK team’s official forum.

Well, there’s more… because the 20,000 spectators, raised enough money to build a football school for children in the Congo. It was Etxebe’s decision to donate the money to the children, who have been in the hearts of all Athletic players and fans since a video was made of them singing the team anthem.

Anyway, read that story and see the video here.

Remember we told you about a new tour entitled Discover the Basque Country, created by historian Paddy Woodworth and gastronomy guru Jon Warren. Well there’s another great article, this time about Jon and his company San Sebastian Food, which provides a more original experience for tourists all centred around the Community’s great food.

And we have a brand new blog! Basque internationally-acclaimed musician and trikitixa maestro Kepa Junkera is currently on a tour of the States. From time to time he’ll be writing to us about his experiences and the people he meets on his travels. His first article is about Ramon Echeveste, born in Doneztebe, Navarre. He left the Basque Country at the age of 20 with nothing but the clothes on his back.  He is now the successful self-made owner of a sheep company.

Ondo ibili!

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Today, 16^th March, it seems that Frederic Duhart discovered that our group can be a good way to know more about the Basque world. He told us that he has family in  Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. Nice to meet you Fred!

Another friend, Alexander Amor, sent us a picture from our loved Bilbao Guggenheim Museum but seen from the air. Once you have seen it, you’ll notice why many people used to call it the cauliflower.

Food and beverage matching is more relevant than we think. It is a movement which some US gourmets started in the 80s, according to Donostia-San Sebastián Basque Culinary Center’s head, Jose María Aizegoa.

Do you want to know which are the most important upcoming concerts in the Basque Country? Enjoy this photo gallery.

On the other hand, if you’re more interested in arts, here you have some pictures on the Anish Kapoor exhibition, the latest at the Guggenheim.

…don’t forget our news on sports: soccer (Osasuna) and our Basque pelota blog to keep you updated.

And lastly, an industrial event: the Machine Tool Biennial Fair at Bilbao Exhibition Centre is nearer: 30,000 trade specialists have already joined the initiative.

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Good day to you Basques from a beautiful sunny day in the Basque Country,

Some important news from the basketball court today, three matches to be precise. The good news is that Bizkaia BB managed a nail-bitingly close win over Murcia, though the same could not be said for Caja Laboral in their match against Asefa Estudiantes or Lagun Aro GBC against Xacobeo Blu:Sens.

An exciting new exhibition comes to Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, which is displaying the work of Anish Kapoor, one of the most influential sculptors alive today. Read about the exhibition and see images of some of his works here.

And if you’re feeling peckish, American Tamar Marino provides her latest installment on the Basque Fed blog. This time she tells us about the importance of peppers in Basque cuisine.

Lastly, a couple of items we forgot to mention yesterday: Firstly, Athletic Bilbao’s draw against Sporting Gijon and the Basque tuna boat ‘Txori-Argi’, which escaped a pirate attack in the Indian Ocean.

That’s all for now. See you Tuesday – Asteartera arte!

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Kaixo Basques, how is it going?

We have something interesting to tell you: San Francisco Basque Cultural Center celebrates 50th anniversary and to commemorate this event a bertso performance will be exhibited at San Francisco Basque Cultural center with four active US bertsolariak and two Basques: Maialen Lujanbio and Andoni Egaña.

Mexican singer Lila Downs presents her latest album in Bilbao. Her latest album Lila Downs y La Misteriosa: En Paris includes her greatest hits and will be presented at Arriaga Theatre in Bilbao on March 15th.

Soprano Maria Bayo will be in Donostia-San Sebastian tomorrow and will perform at Victoria Eugenia Theatre together with the French pianist Maciej Pikulski.

And to finish with, and according to Eustat data, the percentage of Basque civil weddings was up in third quarter of 2009. 2,652 weddings were held in July, August and September 2009, 12% down on the previous year.

That’s all for today, see you tomorrow with more!

Agur!!!

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